Author: mmafighting
As another Thanksgiving rolls around, we take the time to appreciate not only our day-to-day blessings and the joy of friends and family, but to check in on how others are celebrating the United States’ annual tradition of gratitude. For fighters, there’s a wide range of things one could be grateful for, whether it’s a lengthy winning streak, a lucrative fight or two under circumstances that no one could have predicted (we’re looking at you, Francis Ngannou), or even just being healthy enough to make it through another calendar year of combat sports without a major injury. To all the…
MMA Fighting has PFL World Championship 2023 weigh-ins for Friday’s event at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. In the main event, 2022 lightweight champion Olivier Aubin-Mercier tries for his second straight PFL title in a fight with PFL vet Clay Collard. The fighters can weigh no more than 155 pounds for the lightweight title bout. One fight was cancelled as Chris Wade missed weight by nearly three pounds for his trilogy fight with Bubba Jenkins. Per the PFL, Jenkins opted to not take the fight, but will be an alternate for the featherweight finale. Watch a live stream of the…
Larissa Pacheco stopped Amber Leibrock and Olena Kolesnyk in 59 seconds combined to make it to the 2023 PFL lightweight finals. She will secure another $1 million prize with a victory over Marina Mokhnatkina on Friday at the 2023 PFL World Championship event in Washington. Pacheco has won nine straight since 2021, beating every fighter in the company during that stretch. She was able to avenge her previous losses to PFL superstar Kayla Harrison in the 2022 finals, and she doesn’t lose any sleep because of any other woman in the company today, she said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca…
Dana White made sure that Thanksgiving was full of announcements. The UFC CEO announced a slew of news on Thursday via social media, which includes a location for UFC 298 — the event set to be headlined by featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defending against Ilia Topuria. The promotion’s second pay-per-view of 2024 takes place Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Additionally, White revealed that headlining the Feb. 10 Fight Night event in Las Vegas the week prior to UFC 298 is a middleweight bout between perennial ranked contender Jack Hermansson and the surging Joe Pyfer. Hermansson competes…
DAMN! They Were Good celebrates the careers of the most exciting and influential fighters in MMA history and on this episode it celebrates the career of former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, an athletic marvel and one of the biggest stars in the history of the sport. A national champion collegiate wrestler, Lesnar made his bones as a professional wrestling superstar before shifting to MMA in 2007 (after a brief flirtation with the NFL!). What followed was a transformative four year run where Lesnar won the UFC heavyweight title in just his fourth professional fight, and helped usher the promotion…
Derek Brunson holds no ill will towards the UFC after spending nearly 11 years with the promotion but he knew it was time to move on. The 39-year-old veteran secured his release before inking a new multi-fight deal with PFL where he’ll make his debut during the season finale card this Friday. While he was originally scheduled to clash with Roman Dolidze this month, Brunson ultimately opted to cut ties with the UFC and look for a fresh start elsewhere. “I think it was at the time that we both went our separate ways,” Brunson told MMA Fighting. “I had…
Chantelle Cameron isn’t totally pleased with her upcoming rematch against Katie Taylor. In May, Cameron beat Taylor in their marquee matchup in Dublin, retaining her undisputed light-welterweight title with a majority decision win. Billed as Homecoming, as it was Taylor’s first professional bout in Ireland, the bout was originally supposed to be a rematch between Taylor and Amanda Serrano for Taylor’s lightweight titles before Serrano withdrew due to injury, giving Cameron the opportunity to step in and hand Taylor her first professional defeat. And now, Cameron has to do it all again. This Saturday, Cameron and Taylor rematch in the…
Kayla Harrison vs. Cris Cyborg has long been one of the most discussed matchups in women’s MMA. For years, the fight was seen as more of a pipe dream than a possibility because of the promotional restrictions between the two rivals. But that changed on Monday once PFL announced its acquisition of Bellator and all athlete contracts under the Bellator umbrella. “It does, it feels closer than ever,” Harrison said of the Cyborg bout on The MMA Hour. “It feels closer than ever, and that’s why I’m not going to jinx it. I’m not going to talk about it, I’m…
Ilia Topuria has his future plans all mapped out. UFC 298 will be the biggest night of Topuria’s life. Spain’s favorite fighting son has been on an absolute tear through the featherweight division, amassing a flawless 14-0 record. The stretch has been enough to earn “El Matador” a title shot against the reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski in the Feb. 17 main event. In a rare case, Topuria challenges a champion who enters the fight after a loss. Not just any loss, however, but a first-round knockout of Volkanovski opposite lightweight champion Islam Makhachev from their UFC 294 rematch last month.…
The No Bets Barred boys are back this week with a deep dive into the PFL Championship card on this special Thanksgiving Week episode. On Friday, the 2023 PFL Championships go down in Washington D.C. with six different title fights, each with $1 million up for grabs, and co-hosts Connor Burks and Jed Meshew are here to break down all the big fights on this special holiday fight week. Topics discussed include the wisdom of Wiki-capping, which underdogs are worth throwing a few units on, and even another All-In bet from Jed. Will this one backfire like he last All-In…